Life as a detective in New York city can be a rough, dirty, thankless job. New York City Police Detectives Bo Dietl (Stephen Baldwin) and Duke Finnerty (Chris Penn) both know this very well. What doesn't help the situation is that Bo's best friend, Richie La Cossa (Mike McGlone), has serious connections with the New York Mafia. This makes Bo look highly suspicious to the FBI, so they ask him to help them investigate Richie. When Bo refuses, it makes him look even worse in their eyes. Bo's life is further complicated by the fact that he is dating Richie's ex-mistress and his partner, Duke, owes thousands of dollars in gambling debts to some of Richie's business associates. All of these factors cause rising tension between Bo and Richie. This film has a solid story coupled with some intriguing characters, making it quite entertaining.

ONE TOUGH COP will appeal to many adults who enjoy police-oriented films. This film's positive message about friendship highlights the willingness of true friends to lay down their lives for each other. Even though the story includes characters who are supposed to be natural enemies, they have friendships that remain strong in spite of life's circumstances. On the other hand, the film contains a ridiculous amount of obscene language. There are more f-words than there are minutes in the entire movie. For instance, there is one scene in which the f-word is used, among other obscenities, 6 times in no more than ten seconds. In addition, there are many references to male genitals in the context of men calling each other names. Also included are many violent scenes, with a couple of close-ups of men being shot. Despite the positive message in the film, it contains far too much language and violence to be recommended.